Walking the Line. Three Points of View

In a game of rugby or tennis, if the ball bounces on the line it’s still in, and if it goes outside the line, it’s out. Here are my thoughts on walking the line.

I’ve been thinking about all the compliance we have on our plates, how we deal with this, and the different levels of adherence that I hear about with both first-hand situations and anecdotally, or second-hand.

When starting off in a new company, real estate salespeople come with their own ways of doing things. I can tell you that every one of you has a different perspective or interpretation of how things should be handled. This has been built by the experiences you have had in the past and the adherence and interpretation of policy other agencies you have worked for.

Those of you who started working before the REA Act 2008 came into effect remember a time of what seemed like very light compliance (although it is worth considering that your Principals didn’t think so at the time…). This act was a good tidy up of legislation and allowed more consumer protection. But it slowed all of us down.

Those of you working before the AML-CFT act came in remember a time of simplicity when it came to listing. This act has so many benefits in the big picture. I am sure you would agree that reduction in human trafficking, fraudulent laundering and tax evasion are all areas that will improve the greater good. But isn’t that administration annoying. It slows us down.

The meeting point of compliance, marketing, management and administration is a frustration in many businesses. And it divides teams sometimes.

Here are three perspectives – hypothetical of course.

As an owner of a business, I require a compliant business. I don’t particularly like to do things wrong. I am also responsible to ensure that my salespeople have a compliant business to work in, likewise for my management and administrators. If this business is ordered to cease trading it affects a lot of people. I don’t want my insurance premiums to go up. I don’t want to be bogged down by investigations. My immediate desire for gain or commercial interests sometimes push up against adherence to this so I need to keep the big picture in mind.

For all of these reasons I put in place processes to ensure that we are compliant.

As a salesperson, I just want to sell and to not be held back. I also don’t want to get in trouble and I don’t want to be under the spotlight with the Real Estate Agents Authority.
I want to do what is right. I don’t want to be held up by forces outside of my control (like waiting for AML-CDD or a trustee hiking in the Andes without cellphone reception to sign a deal off) and so when there are hold ups I am frustrated. I could get mad at the government but nobody there is listening. I can however direct frustrations at a manager, or the administrator, or the whole (damn) business.

As an Administrator in a business, I am sitting in the middle of salespeople, the owner and management, and trying to do the best that I can by offering exceptional service while following policy. I want to keep salespeople, and the business owner happy. I am employed to do my job which is following the processes as efficiently as possible.

It’s is a tricky one, right? 

Just like the principals operating prior to the introduction of the Real Estate Agents Act of 2008, I think we are probably currently living in some real estate agent of the futures idea of the ‘good old days’.

My prediction is that there will be a push towards more compliance requirements on us, not less. Weather, weather tightness, flood and ocean inundation susceptibility are going to be an issue going forwards for real estate in general. We have yet to scratch the surface on privacy and certainly in the main part have not been tested on this. AI is about to change the game and this (somehow) will affect us too as will continued technological changes in general. There is likely to be a push towards sustainability and this may be legislated (all those trifolds that end up in the recycling bin). Consumer protection will increase.

So how to handle this? I think that the only way is to walk the line. Clear, up-to-date policies that are well thought out and well advised, that allow as much freedom as possible for the salespeople, without sending all of us out of bounds. A culture of doing it right and getting it right.

What do you think? I would be interested in your opinions, feel free to drop me a line. Try and stay warm and dry out there.